Spring
by The Amazing Aliano
Summary: Syaoran reads from a scroll and suddenly a girl appears! Now this mysterious girl has managed to get herself living in his house somehow, and Syaoran is beginning to find she's growing on him... SxS
1. Homework Causes Nothing But Trouble

Syaoran had been having a really bad day. All he wanted to do was go home, eat something then curl up in bed and block the world out. Unfortunately, he had homework.

Homework. It was such a detestable thing. Homework must have been invented by some miserable teacher, who felt that everyone else had no right to be happy, and decided they should be forced to learn outside of school as well, to make everyone as depressed as the teacher was. And the cycle continued, as students who had been forced to do homework didn't see why the next generation shouldn't have to suffer as they had suffered. It grew until homework became a thing everyone did, and never questioned the point of.

And that was how Syaoran ended up at the library. Research for his homework had become the bane of his existence. Still, he wanted to do well in his classes, not just because his mother was pressuring him to do well, but also because he wanted to do well for himself. He was a proud young man, in the best sense, of course.

Luckily when the sky opened up and shed its heavy load on the world, he could see the library up ahead, and he made a dash for it. As spring had just started the rain still came down strongly, but the sun was there to shine its way weakly through the clouds. He entered the vast doors having only gotten slightly soaked. As he looked around he noticed many people had taken shelter here from the sudden downpour. He sighed, thinking it would be hard to find somewhere peaceful to get on with his homework.

He travelled through the library, which, while not as big as you find some libraries, was big enough to have two floors; after all, this was Hong Kong. After completing a circuit of the bottom floor and finding nowhere to work, he went upstairs. Usually he didn't like to go upstairs as much. The windows were few and far between and there was a feeling of being enclosed. But at least that meant there weren't as many people up there. He was more likely to find a quiet spot. Sure enough, after walking through the sections he found a secluded table, surrounded by books on three sides. He sat so he was facing the way he came in, and dumped the books he had gathered on his travels on the table, then fetched out his work books and sat down.

After what felt like hours but was probably closer to only an hour and a half, he stretched, and admired his work. He had gotten a lot done in this quiet area, but he needed a break. He looked at his watch, and realised he should probably head home now. Hopefully it had stopped raining.

He stretched again, and something hit him on the head. "Ow!" He cried, disturbing the peace. Not that there was anyone around to be annoyed by this. But if there was no one around, who had thrown something at him? He rubbed the sore spot on his head irritably, and guessed it must have been a book fallen from one of the shelves. He looked down into his lap where it had landed. It wasn't a book, but a scroll. Interested, he unrolled it and stared at the kanji. Great, Japanese, he thought, looking it over. Although he could speak Japanese pretty well, reading it was a different matter.

He rolled it up again, and stood to find a place for it. However, he couldn't find a gap in shelves where it belonged. Frowning, he put it with his other books with the idea of giving it to someone who worked there so they could find its proper place. As he did his tour of the library he put back the books where he had got them from, juggling things round.

He got to the exit and found that it was bright and sunny again, and the wetness if the rain was already being evaporated. It wasn't until he was halfway home that he remembered the scroll. What did he do with it? He hadn't given it to anyone, perhaps he left it somewhere? He searched his jacket, and there it was, shoved into an inside pocket. He must have put it there while he was sorting out all the other books. He sighed, thinking of how late he was going to be getting home, but he couldn't just take the scroll. He hadn't checked it out so technically it would be stealing. He would have to take it back. He wondered why the alarms hadn't gone off though. All library stock had a thin strip put on them which set off the alarms unless desensitised by staff as they were being checked out. He should have set off the alarms when he went through the doors, but the silence of the library had not been broken. Curious, he took the scroll out and looked it over. Those strips were hard to see, but on something like this it should be easier. His search didn't last long though, as he made his way back down the road towards the library. He found he was examining its contents. He started to sound out the words, not really paying attention to his surroundings and walking slowly. He also didn't notice, as he said the words hesitantly as he tried to get their meaning, the golden glow that was following his feet. As he went further along, his brow furrowed in concentration, the glow began to gather behind him, trailing after him, and taking a more solid form. At the last word, he finally noticed a glowing from behind him, which stopped abruptly as the form solidified and fell to the ground with a thump.

Syaoran spun around to see a girl sitting there, with short light brown hair and she was wearing the strangest outfit he had ever seen. It looked like it was made up of flower petals. Her eyes were squinting with pain as she rubbed her rear end, like she'd fallen on it. Then, her eyes opened and she looked around, apparently not noticing him. She had the most vibrant shade of green eyes he had ever seen, and they were frowning at her surroundings. Then she said, in a light Japanese voice, "Oh… Bugger."

* * *

Heh, sorry, I know Sakura isn't the type to swear, but I couldn't resist!

To anyone who's reading any of my other fics, and is annoyed that I'm coming out with new stories even though I haven't done any on the others, might I just say, I most humbly and deeply apologise, I hope you'll forgive me and that this makes up a little for the lack of chapters being written for my other stories.

Anyway, this one's been plaguing me a bit, so I don't think I could've done anything till I wrote it, then I thought, what's the point in writing it if I keep it to myself? I'm enjoying doing this one at the moment, and I hope you enjoy reading it. If you are, you should really let me know whether my efforts are worthwhile, or if you think it could be better, and so on. I'm not going to tell you to review though, it's entirely up to you whether you do or not. I'd appreciate it if you did, but hey, I'm just an authoress, so feel free to pretend I don't exist and just kick back and enjoy the story as it goes! Well, Mata ne!


	2. Bringing Someone Home

Those were not exactly the words he expected such an innocent looking girl to say. He decided to speak up. "Who," he started, hesitating. She whipped her head round to look at him in surprise. "Who are you?" He asked.

"Um," She said, looking panicked. "Um, um," she was looking around desperately now, then her eyes fixed on the sakura tree next to her. "Um, Sakura?" She said slowly, as if trying it out. She had a funny look on her face that seemed to say 'I wonder if he'll believe me?'

"You, you weren't there a minute ago, were you?" Syaoran asked, checking.

"I was, er, I was…" She thought for a moment. "I was climbing the tree? Yeah, that's what I was doing, and I sort of fell." She grinned sheepishly.

Syaoran looked down at the scroll he had in his hand. She seemed to have appeared right after he said the strange words, and there was that strange glow he'd noticed… "I don't suppose you know anything about this, do you?" He asked, holding it out for her to see.

She brightened when she saw it. "Oh, why didn't you say about that in the first place? Would have saved me trying to use my imagination, heh."

"What?" He asked, completely confused.

She looked at him suspiciously. "Do you know what that says?" She asked.

"No, my Japanese isn't that great. I was saying the words, and then you appeared, and this is confusing, what's going on?"

"Hmm, this could be interesting then," she muttered. Then she said, "Would you mind helping me up?" and held out her hand to him.

Syaoran didn't like having to run around after girls, but since this was way out of his league, he obliged. As she stood, with her hand in his, some of the petals started falling away.

"Oh, no," she said. "Stupid dress."

Syaoran noticed irritably that she was still holding his hand.

"Could I have my hand back please?" He asked impatiently. She looked up to the end of her arm and saw that she was indeed still clutching his hand. She blushed, and let go quickly. She went back to examining her outfit with great interest, attempting to hide her red cheeks.

She sighed as more petals fell and said, "It's no good, this isn't going to last me very long. Can I borrow your jacket?" She asked brightly.

"What? No!" He said, scowling at her. Who was she anyway?

She huffed, and said, "Well fine. I should warn you though, all this," she gestured the flowers making up her dress, "is going to fall off. And I'm not wearing anything underneath."

They were both blushing now, as he silently handed her his jacket. "Thank you," she said politely, and put it on. It just about covered the essentials, coming to mid way down her thigh. "Now then, you'd better take me home," she said.

"What?" That seemed to be all he was saying around this girl, he thought. "Why should I take you home?"

"Well, because," she said, thinking, "Because, you're a nice person? Anyway, I think the least you can do is put a roof over my head and lend me some of your clothes, of course." She watched him expectantly.

"How do you figure that?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Um, well, look you just do, okay?" She said in a frustrated tone.

"I think not, I'm not letting you stay in my house, what's my mother going to say?" He demanded.

She winced, and said, "I don't know, 'hi, nice to meet you'?"

"You're on your own," Syaoran said, and started to walk off, having enough of the girl and the conversation.

"Wait, you can't just leave me here!" She cried. "What kind of man are you? Leaving a defenceless and scantily clad girl all alone to fend for herself!" She gasped and called to his retreating back, "You're not gay, are you?"

Syaoran nearly blew his top at that. Stalking back, fuming, and causing Sakura to cower a bit, he screamed, "I AM NOT GAY!" He breathed deeply, trying to calm down as he glared at her. She watched him with wide eyes, waiting to see what happened. Finally, when he deemed himself calm enough, he said, "Fine, you can come back to my house, but," he said quickly as she perked up, "You are only coming so that you can borrow some clothes and I can get my jacket back, and you are not staying, is that clear?"

She pouted, and said, "Fine. You know, I imagined you to be nicer than this."

He started to reply, then stopped as her words hit his brain. "What do you mean, you imagined me?"

"Do we have to talk about this now, in the middle of a footpath as the breeze robs me of what's left of my dress or would you rather talk when I am fully dressed?" She asked, only a slight reddish tinge on her cheeks.

Syaoran sighed, and said, "Fine, come on then." With that, he started stalking back home, not looking back.

"Hey, wait for me!" She called, running to catch up with him.

When they arrived at his house he could only see the odd petal on her legs, not that he was really looking. He opened the door to his house, although 'Sakura' was quick to point out that it wasn't really a house, being too big.

"It's more like a mansion," she marvelled, looking back at the carefully tended garden they'd just walked through.

"Yeah yeah," Syaoran said, pulling her inside. She looked around with interest as Syaoran checked the coast was clear.

"Right, come on," he said, and walked up the stairs.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"To my room," He said, then he noticed she'd suddenly stopped. "What's wrong?" He asked, as she blushed profusely.

"To – to your room?" She said, timidly.

Syaoran suddenly understood. His face was swallowed up in red as he stuttered out quickly, "N-no! I mean, not like that, I mean, just while I find you something to wear."

"Oh," She said, somewhere between relief and… what? Disappointment? Syaoran quickly shook his head. No, of course not, don't be so stupid, he told himself. Why would she be disappointed? He didn't ponder the question too long, and quickly ran up the stairs to his room.

"Hey!" He heard her cry out behind him. "Wait for me!"

Once they were in his room she looked around with interest. There wasn't a lot to look at though, as Syaoran had never collected many things. There was the standard bed, wardrobe, and desk that most guys his age had but not much else. The room could have been anyone's.

Sakura stood awkwardly in the middle of his room as he put his stuff away. "I'll be right back, and then you can start explaining yourself," he said, looking at her intensely. She cowered a bit under his gaze, but nodded. Syaoran left her and headed for his eldest sister's room. She had moved out to go to university, but there was still quite a few of her things here. Nothing she would miss, thought Syaoran. He hoped, anyway.

He managed to sort out a top and long skirt that looked like they could fit Sakura, but he refused point blank to go after underwear for her, as that would involve looking at his sister's bras and such, which is traumatic for any brother, but it would also involve thinking of what size Sakura was, which was wrong, he was supposed to be an educated young gentleman, and as far as he knew they were not supposed to contemplate what size a girl they'd only just met was. Or any girl's, for that matter. If she wanted underwear, she'd have to go buy her own.

When he got back, she had her back to him, looking in his wardrobe. "What're you doing?" He asked, making her jump.

"Sorry," she said quickly, shutting the doors. "Ah, those look nice!" She exclaimed when she saw the clothes he had bought. She took them off him, then hesitated. "Um," she said, blushing, "could you turn around please?"

"Oh!" He said, and quickly spun around before she saw the worst of his blush. He heard the sound of his jacket being unzipped, and then tossed on the bed. There was more rustling of clothes, then she cried, "Done!"

He turned cautiously round, and she stood beaming before him, looking quite cute in his sister's clothes.

He was about to say something when he heard a voice calling, "Syaoran!"

"Oh no!" He said looking at Sakura with absolute horror in his face.

"What's wrong?" She asked, feeling the beginnings of panic settling itself on her.

"You've got to hide! Quick!" He whispered urgently. He frantically looked around his room for somewhere to hide her, for once realising just how bare his room really was. There was no choice, she would have to go in the wardrobe. He quickly grabbed her arm and shoved her in the wardrobe, which earned him a, "Hey!" and there was a small retaliation which she didn't win.

"Please just stay in here and be quiet!" He pleaded. Sakura looked into his wide, round pleading, and above all, adorable eyes, and nodded. He just got the door shut as the owner of the voice walked in…

* * *

Hooray, another chapter! Heh, usually it takes me forever to write new chapters, but never mind.

Reviews!

Tashmal: Very perceptive of you, lol. And as for the 'oh bugger,' well, if I'd just landed on my, ahem, 'rear end' in the middle of a footpath, I think I'd be saying that too. Or worse, but you know, Sakura's a nice girl who doesn't think those things. Hope this was soon enough for you!

FlowerLover: Heh, ok ok, I'm updating!

stardust 16: Well thank you! I hope it lives up to your expectations! I'm noticing a pattern here with people telling me to update soon…

quamgirl: Your wish is granted! Thank the fairy Tweezer, who has imaginative ways to make me update! Was it cute? I didn't think so, but meh, what do I know? And I'm glad you read my other stories, thanks!

gbzgtfan2004: Again I'm being branded with this cuteness! It's not my fault they're a cute couple! I swear, for my next story I'm going to have Syaoran go on a killing spree or something!

…Maybe not. Lol, I don't mind really. Anyway, I intend to continue so yay, be happy.

UreyEz13: You sound like the voice of experience. I will be going back to my others, er, sometime… Was it that obvious I hate homework? Heh, oh well. I don't have homework anymore, cos I'm too old to go to school! Don't hate me because of it though.

Neway, for anyone who's interested or cares, I'm working on another chapter of Back to School, so hopefully it should be up soon.


	3. There's a girl in my wardrobe!

…His mother.

"Syaoran! I didn't hear you come back," The elegant woman said, with a slight question in her voice.

"No, I only just got in," he said, standing up straight before her.

She looked at him as he faced straight ahead, and said, "Have you had flowers in your room?"

Syaoran frowned. "What?" He said before he could stop himself.

She glared at him and chided, "Its pardon, not what."

"Sorry. But I haven't had flowers in my room, what makes you think I have?" He asked.

"I just thought…" she trailed, not looking at him. Then she remembered herself and said, "Never mind. I'm going out for a meeting, will you be all right here on your own?"

"Yes, mother," He said.

She looked around his room, not quite searching. Then she walked out, saying, "I should be back around seven."

"Okay," He said, as she shut the door.

When the footsteps had faded away, he turned to the wardrobe and opened the doors, to find Sakura swirly eyed and almost suffocating. She fell out, and then rubbed her head wincing slightly.

"You all right?" He asked, looking down at her.

"I'm fine," she said waving her hand in a, 'don't worry about me' gesture. She looked towards the door where his mother had just left. "She's a bit icy," She commented.

"She's all right, you've just got to know her better," Syaoran told her.

"Still, I can see why you made me hide. She doesn't seem like the kind of woman who'd be very happy about a girl in her son's room, especially dressed in her daughter's clothes," said Sakura

"No, well, I've never had a girl in my room, so I wouldn't know how she'd react." He thought for a moment before adding, "And I don't want to find out."

"Right," he said, moving over to his desk, where he had put the scroll. "Now, start explaining."

She grimaced, and said, "Fine, but you're not going to like it."

"Let me be the judge of that," he said evenly.

"Okay, well, see, I'm the incarnation of Spring," she said, getting straight to the point.

"Uh huh," he said slowly, wondering what sort of wacko he'd let walk into his house.

"See, I knew you'd be like that!" She huffed, dumping herself on his bed. He sat across from her on the chair for his desk. She frowned at him and said, "But it's true. If you could read Japanese better you'd know that!"

"Hey! My Japanese is just fine!" He said angrily.

"Oh yeah? Then what does that scroll say?" She countered.

He glared at her, and picked it up. "It says," He said, frowning at it, "Er, it says, um, something about…" He trailed, looking at the words. "Well, the general idea of it is describing each season," He said uncertainly.

"Right, that's only part of it. By reciting the words you called me into being, so that I'm not just a certain type of whether or humidity attributed to a time of year or whatever, I actually have a physical body," She said cheerfully.

"And you expect me to believe this because...?"

"Because I have no reason to lie to you?" She tried.

He laughed without humour at that. "Yeah, right," He said. "How about you want to try and get money out of my family, because we're well off?"

"What? No!" She cried, hurt in her eyes. "I would never do that!"

She seemed so honest. "Hmm," was all he said.

She looked at him with wide wounded eyes, and "Do you really have such a bleak view of the world?"

He frowned at her in surprise and confusion, and said, "I don't have a bleak view of the world, just realistic."

Instead of looking hurt now she looked sad. "Is that so?" She asked quietly. She took a deep breath and fixed him with a look of resolve on her face. "Right, I am going to prove to you that not everyone is after your money, or your status, or anything like that, but that some people are actually genuinely nice people."

He couldn't help but laugh humourlessly. "And how do you propose to do that?" He asked.

"Well," she said, thinking, "You let me stay here for a while, don't worry, I'll pull my weight, help out and such, and I'll show you that people are good. If, by the end of spring you still think the same, and I haven't made a difference, then I'll go away, no arguments," she said, looking him straight in the eye.

"What happens if you do change my mind then?" He asked curiously.

She grinned, and said, "That's entirely up to you." She had a nice smile, he found himself thinking. She broke through his musings by saying, "I don't suppose you have anything to eat, do you?"

He found himself chuckling at her hopeful face. I never chuckle, he thought to himself. "Well, I usually make dinner for mother and myself when she goes to a meeting and will be back early enough to eat. I'll make something for you as well," he said.

"You cook?" She asked, sparkly eyed.

"Yes," he said slowly and warily.

"Wow, that's amazing, um," she paused, then looked horrified at herself. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I never asked you what your name was!"

He blinked. He had just assumed that like everyone who lived in the area she knew who he was. Why else would she have bought herself upon him? "Li Syaoran," He told her.

"Right, Li-kun," she said, more to herself than him. Then she smiled that dazzling smile and said, "Since you're letting me stay here, I'll help you cook!"

"Hey, exactly when did I agree to let you stay?" He asked, irritated. "And you still haven't explained about all this," He said, holding the scroll towards her.

"Well, I did try to explain, but," she started hesitantly, then sighed. "Look, it isn't important right now, but please, please will you let me stay?" She looked sadly at the floor. "I have nowhere else to go."

Damn, he hated it when girls guilted him into things. He couldn't exactly chuck her out, though, especially since she was borrowing his sister's clothes. And was lacking underwear, he reminded himself, causing a blush to rise on his face. She seemed so innocent as well, who knew what would happen to her if she wandered around Hong Kong on her own? It was a wonder how she had survived up until now. Which brought him to the question of where she had really come from in the first place… He remembered that she was still waiting for an answer while he went around in circles in his head.

He made a quick decision. "Okay, fine, you can stay in my sister's room for now, until your little mission you've set yourself is over one way or the other, then you're out, got it?"

Her head shot up and she happily smiled and said, "Right!" He didn't miss the tears glistening in her eyes, and felt guilty again.

"And remember you've got to help me do my chores and everything as well," he warned, ignoring the guilt.

"I know," She pouted.

After a moment, he sighed. "Right, so, dinner?"

* * *

Another short chapter, sorry. It just seemed right to end it here, though. Next chapter will be, um, soon. Ish… Hopefully. If I get my final major project done on time and everything.

Okay, reviews! There's only two of them this time, but that's ok, at least it shows some interest. And like I said before, I'm not going to make you review, it's entirely up to you whether you do or don't.

FlowerLover: Gah, I'm just trying to space it out nicely, lol. If I had the chapters longer you'd have to wait longer for updates, your choice; short chapters and quicker updates, or longer chapters with loner pauses between updates. Neway, this was as soon as possible, so yay, here it is, for your entertainment and amusement.

UreyEz13: Heh, I meant about the sticking to one story, not, ahem, anything else. And Syaoran being a gentleman? Well, let's just say with Sakura around he is really going to struggle to keep that up, heh. And my story's alive? Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it! I'm enjoying writing it as well, which is why updates are as often as they are. Hope this was soon enough for you, and anyone else reading this.

Neway, as I keep saying, I'm doing my final major project, which basically my getting into university depends on. So not too much pressure… Why do you care? Well, because it means I write my stories only when I have time, which sadly isn't very often. I'd like to go to uni, so I want to pass. Gah, art is so hard! I should have done something easier, like, um… Huh, there must be something easy to do at uni, right?


	4. Itadakimas!

Chapter 4: Itadakimas!

* * *

Syaoran found himself regretting letting her help with dinner.

It wasn't so much that her cooking skills were poor at best, or that it didn't seem as though she'd ever really been near a kitchen, it was more the way she was always… around. Somehow she always managed to manoeuvre herself to be right where he was going. She didn't do it on purpose, or at least, he didn't think she did.

After the fifth time of bumping into her whilst going to the fridge, he lost what little of his cool he had.

"Will you please move out the way?" He demanded. She jumped back.

"Sorry," She said guiltily. "I was trying to see how you were making it, so that I might be able to make it myself for you and your family."

After she said that, she wasn't the only one feeling guilty. "Fine," he said, running his hand through his hair irritably. "If you wanted to learn you should have said, not just hovered around." He sighed at her forlorn expression. "Go get me a red and a yellow pepper out the bottom draw of the fridge."

She perked up when he said that. "Okay!" She skipped over to the fridge and bent down to the bottom draw. Syaoran quickly spun around as his face was swallowed in a blush. Being a young gentleman, he certainly did not stare at a young lady's… well, at a young lady. He kept reminding himself of that.

"Li-kun? Are you warm?" Sakura asked innocently upon her return with the peppers. "You've gone awfully red."

"I'm fine," he said, commanding himself to get a grip. Remembering that Sakura had wanted to learn to cook, he took the peppers off her. "Right, firstly, I'm making an Italian dish, spaghetti bolognese, it's relatively easy to make and I can do a lot at one time," he started explaining. She watched him attentively and he almost felt unnerved by it. He continued, "Right, you can help me chop the peppers." He took one off her and got another chopping board out from the one he had. He put another knife on her chopping board and proceeded to show her how to cut the pepper with his own. "Okay?" He asked her, once he was done.

She frowned, and said, "I think so."

"Okay, while you're doing that, I'll fetch out the beef," he said, and walked over to the freezer. While he shifted through the drawers of the fridge-freezer he heard Sakura start to hum behind him. He couldn't help but smile. She had a lousy humming voice, probably even worse singer, but it was just so positive, probably aware of the badness but just carrying on anyway, for the sheer joy of it.

Syaoran took the beef out and put enough to shared between him, his family and Sakura in the pan.

As he put the lid on the pan, he heard Sakura yelp in pain. "What's wrong?" He asked quickly, at her side in a moment.

She was gripping her finger. "I accidentally cut my finger," she said, wincing a little.

"Let me see," He said, and took her hand in his, examining her finger. "It's ok, it'll sting for a bit but you'll be fine," he told her, looking up at her face. She was blushing shyly, and he realised he was still holding her hand. He quickly dropped it as he felt his face heat a little. "Anyway," he said, grasping for something to talk about, "if you finish those peppers I'll show you what seasoning to put in and that." She nodded and went back to the peppers.

He sighed to himself as he turned the browning mince over in the pan. Maybe this was a bad idea to let her stay here. Especially since his mother wouldn't know. But he couldn't exactly tell her, she would assume all the wrong things. He himself didn't quite know how Sakura was going to fit in his life but she seemed to be determined to stay there, for now anyway. At least she'll be gone by summer, he thought. He glanced over at her and found that she quickly turned away back to her barely chopped pepper with a pink tinged face. What was that about? He wondered. She looked back up at him and saw he was still looking at her, and surprised she smiled tentatively. He didn't return the smile, but frowned a little turning back to the mince. She probably really was after his family's money, he thought. That was the only reason pretty girls like Sakura ever really made an effort to talk to him. He scowled at the mince now, not really seeing it, and not noticing Sakura come and stand next to him.

"Li-kun?" She said, questioningly. He started, and jumped away from her. She looked concerned, then giggled at the look on his face. "Sorry, Li-kun, I didn't realise cooking took so much concentration."

"Huh?" He said, before remembering himself, and asked, "Have you done those peppers then?"

"Yes, what should I do with them?"

"Just leave them here on the side," he instructed. "Could you watch this for me while I get the seasoning?" She cocked her head on one side questioningly.

"Why, is it going to do something?" She asked with a straight face.

He couldn't help but laugh a little, and he said, "Just stand there, all right?"

She smiled her brilliant smile, and said, "Sure!"

He shook his head smiling to himself as he made his way over to one of the cupboards. She was a strange girl, with an innocence about her that was too innocent to be fake. He picked up the right jars, and took them over to where Sakura hadn't moved from the spot where he left her. Very strange, Syaoran thought to himself again.

"Right, now we sprinkle a bit of each of these in, there's no set amount that you can stick to, you just have to estimate based on how much mince you have. You'll get better at it the more you practice." She watched everything he did over his shoulder attentively, and with great interest. As he added more things he gave a running commentary. It was almost fun, teaching someone who was actually interested in what he was doing. Unlike his sisters, they didn't really pay attention.

"Right, we'll leave this for a moment to do the spaghetti," he told her, putting a lid over the pan. He got a pan and filled it with water from the kettle he'd asked Sakura to boil earlier. Turning on the hob plate, he put the spaghetti over the top of the pan.

"It won't fit like that," Sakura noticed. "Shouldn't you break it up?"

He smiled. "I could, but the thing about uncooked spaghetti is that it doesn't break very easily, and also my mother and my sisters do seem to like long strands of spaghetti."

"So," she said, frowning in confusion, "How are you going to get it in at that length?"

"If you put the spaghetti over the pan like I've done there then it softens the middle with the heat and steam enough for me to bend it round in the middle and get it all in," he explained.

"Oh," she said, looking at the spaghetti and working out how it worked. "Oh, Li-kun, how clever of you!" She said, beaming.

He blushed, and said, "Well, I'm not exactly to first person to think of that." What did she think, that Italians had enormous pots to put spaghetti in?

"Oh," she said, her face falling a bit. "But still," she said, trying to salvage the compliment, "I wouldn't have thought of that." No, you would have probably tried snapping it in half and ended up with spaghetti bits pinging all over the place, he thought, chuckling.

She smiled at his chuckle, and said, "You should do that more often."

He blinked at her. "Do what?"

"Smile, laugh," she said, a warm smile on her face and in her eyes. She really did look beautiful smiling at him like that… He quickly shook his head against such thoughts as his face turned red enough to guide ships into ports. He resisted the impulse to run as fast as he could as far away as he could away from her. She cocked her head on one side again, clearly confused, but she didn't question him.

He quickly got back to cooking, and the meal was soon done. He'd only done enough spaghetti for her, as he and his mother would eat theirs later when she got in.

He served up enough of the mince for Sakura, and set her a place at the dining room table.

"Wow, it looks good, I can't wait to eat this!" She said enthusiastically. Then frowning, she asked, "Aren't you having any, Li-kun?"

"I'll be eating with my mother later when she gets in. It's ok, you can eat," he told her quickly, seeing her hesitate.

"But, I don't want to eat on my own," she said, looking at him with wide eyes. He knew that she probably didn't even know what 'puppy dog eyes' meant, and that she truly just didn't want to eat by herself, but still, he felt he was being guilted into it.

"Fine, I'll stay, but I'm not eating yet," he said, grudgingly.

She smiled happily, called out 'itadakimas' and began to eat. He sat watching her take her first bite with a certain nervousness he wasn't used to. His family he knew enjoyed his cooking, but when it was for someone he barely knew, a pretty someone he barely knew, it was a bit different. He watched for her reaction, hoping she'd like it. When she swallowed she said, "Wow, this is really good!" She gave him another one of her dazzling smiles. "You're such a good cook, Li-kun!"

Syaoran couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips. It was nice to be complimented from time to time, and it encouraged him to ask, "Would you like any parmesan cheese as well?"

"What's that?" She asked with that little familiar head-cocking.

"It's just something people sometimes like to put on top to make it taste better," He said, starting to get up. "I'll fetch you some from the fridge."

"Thank you!" She called after him. He rooted through the fridge until he found the little green tube of parmesan cheese, and took it back to the dining room.

When he entered, Sakura wasn't sitting in front of her meal but across the room. He frowned. "What are you doing?" He asked, making her jump.

"Nothing, just smelling your flowers," she said, her cheeks slightly red. He frowned as he looked at the flowers behind her back. They were the only thing on the table, so that must have been what she was doing.

He shrugged it off, and said, "The cheese," holding it out to her.

She took it from him and grinned. "Thanks," she said, and quickly sat down with her meal.

"You might want to only put a bit on to see if you like it first," he said, and she nodded, doing as he advised. He looked over at the elegant lilies Sakura had been smelling. They were his mother's favourite flower, and she usually had some around the house. These had been here for a few days now, and he always passed them, but, looking at them now, they looked different somehow.

He frowned at them trying to figure out what it was, but his thoughts were interrupted by Sakura saying, "I think I prefer it without the cheese." He turned back to her as she was looking thoughtfully at the tube in her hand.

"You don't have to put any on if you don't want to," he said. "I'm not overly found of it myself, but my other likes to have some, so I make sure there's some in the fridge when I make bolognese."

"You're so thoughtful, Li-kun," Sakura said, eating her parmesan cheese-free spaghetti. He blushed again, wishing she'd stop complimenting him.

When she was finished she helped him wash up and put away the things they had used. Looking at the time, he saw that it wasn't long until his mother was due back.

"Come on, I'll show you where you'll be staying," he said, once everything was cleared away. He led her back through the house, up to his sister's room. Sakura looked around and then turned to him and said, "Are you sure it's okay for me to stay here? I mean, it looks like it's already being used."

"It's okay, it's my oldest sister's room, she's away at university so I'm sure she won't mind. Just, er, don't go through her stuff," he added.

"I wouldn't," Sakura said, indignant for a moment. Then she faced him and looked him in the eye, causing him an inexplicable blush. He was beginning to think he blushed far too much around her than was healthy. "Really, though, Li-kun, thank you for letting me stay here," she said. "I know that you'd rather I wasn't here, so I'm grateful. I'll try and keep my promise as well."

"Promise?" He said, confused.

"You know, about the showing you people are good?" She said, cocking her head again.

"Oh, right," he said. It wasn't so much that he'd forgotten the deal, it was more that he'd pushed it to the back of his mind. She must think him really cynical to make a deal like that.

He heard the front door open downstairs signalling his mother's arrival back home. "I better go, so just try to keep quiet, feel free to read one of my sister's books, she won't mind, and I'll come and check on you before I go to bed, okay?" He said quickly.

"Okay," she said with a smile, and he quickly made his exit hopefully before she saw how red she turned his face with that smile.

He greeted his mother, and went to the kitchen to make more spaghetti and make sure the bolognese was hot enough. Pretty soon they were eating in the dining room, talking about the usual things, such as how his school work was going, and how her meeting had gone. When he was clearing away the plates his mother looked across the room and frowned. "Syaoran, did you buy new flowers?" She asked.

He frowned and said, "No, why?"

"Hmm, I'm sure those flowers were on their way out before," she said, looking at her lilies. She shrugged and said, "I must be tired, I think I'm going to go read for a bit," she said to her son, and left him to clear up.

He stared at the flowers, and realised that was what it was. They were fresher than they were this morning. He frowned at them, trying to figure out how that had happened. The only thing he could think of was Sakura, but what could she have done?

He shrugged it off, and took the plates away to the kitchen, leaving the lilies to bloom happily on the table, full of the new life of spring.

* * *

Okay, when I posted the last chapter I was eagerly awaiting reviews, even though I said myself that I'm not going to make you review, but I have to be honest, I love getting reviews. Makes me feel as if someone at least is paying attention to what I'm doing. And then it was ages after, and no one had reviewed, and I was thinking, oh no, no one liked it, I can't write and I should give up now! Heh, my self esteem is a delicately balanced thing. Then, much to my relief, I got one! I can't tell you how much it meant to me to get that one review there, it saved the story!

So, in response;

FlowerLover: Heh, you're not really supposed to get it yet. I believe in not giving too much away to begin with. Although I think I kinda did say. Hmm, mebbe I didn't. It's… something to do with what you said. Remember, the key to a good Sakura x Syaoran fic is love… (Might I add: Eugh, I cannot believe I just typed that. I used to be a respectable kind of person. What's happened to me?) Neway, this is as fast as I can, but I bet it's just not quick enough, right?


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